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UT-Battelle donates $60,000 to Second Harvest Food Bank

Second Harvest Food Bank Executive Director, Elaine Streno accepts the first check of a $60,000 UT-Battelle donation from ORNL Director Thom Mason.
Second Harvest Food Bank Executive Director, Elaine Streno accepts the first check of a $60,000 UT-Battelle donation from ORNL Director Thom Mason. (hi-res image)
 
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Sep. 26, 2012 — UT-Battelle today presented Second Harvest Food Bank with the first $20,000 installment of a three-year commitment of $60,000 to help the local organization feed hungry East Tennesseans.

UT-Battelle, which manages Oak Ridge National Laboratory for the Department of Energy, provided the donation at its annual United Way Leadership Giver's Breakfast, which recognizes leading employee donors to United Way.

UT-Battelle has been a longtime corporate supporter of Second Harvest, offering both volunteers and monetary aid. In 2005, UT-Battelle donated $50,000 to help the agency restock food supplies after Hurricane Katrina.

"In addition to our staff members' consistently strong support for United Way, this most recent donation to Second Harvest continues UT-Battelle's commitment to helping the agency provide food to East Tennesseans in need," said Laboratory Director Thom Mason.

Second Harvest distributes food to area food banks that feed nearly 178,000 people in 18 East Tennessee counties. For every dollar donated, the food bank provides three nutritious meals.

UT-Battelle's $60,000 contribution will help Second Harvest pay for a new $1.5 million cooler-freezer that will allow the agency to store fresh produce and meats, offering healthier choices, said Second Harvest's Executive Director Elaine Streno.

"It's a donation that you can see, you can feel and you can touch." Streno said. "It's going to provide at least 60,000 meals for our 18-county service area, not to mention helping us afford the much needed cooler-freezer that will be storing donated food that had been thrown away prior to its being built."

The center spends 2 percent of its revenue on administration, 4 percent on fundraising expenses and 94 percent on operating hunger-relief programs.

ORNL is managed by UT-Battelle for the Office of Science. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit http://science.energy.gov.